Thaindian News

New Delhi, April 14 (IANS) Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V. Diju brought cheer for India on a disappointing first day of the main draw of Badminton Asian Championships here Wednesday.

Kashyap was the lone Indian challenge left in the men’s draw after six players tumbled out in the first two rounds of the competition.

“I have become much fitter now. I hope to continue this form in the tournament,” he said.

Saina then finished the Indian campaign of the day with an easy victory against Thailand’s Porntip Burnaprasertsuk 21-10, 21-13.

“I played quite well today. I did not expect to win so easily. In my previous meeting with her, I was stressed. But today I was more comfortable. My strokes have improved a lot and my defence was also good,” Saina said.

Saina now plays Indonesia’s Julia Pei Xian Wong, who took out Trupti Murgunde 21-17, 21-12 in the first round. Saina had beaten Julia in the 2006 Philippines Open final to win her first international tournament.

“I have played Julia before. She is coming back from a knee injury which kept her out of action for around 10 months. So, it will be a new match and I have to stay focussed.”

In other women’s singles, Sayali Gokhale played her heart out when she made a brave comeback against Singapore’s Beiwen Zhang but lost 11-21, 21-9, 18-21 in a marathon second round match. Neha Pandit lost to Malaysia’s Lydia Li Ya Cheah 14-21, 19-21 in women’s singles first round.

In the mixed doubles, top seeded Jwala and Diju sailed into second round with a 21-13, 21-12 victory over Wai Hong Wong and Hoi Wah Chau Hong kong.

Kashyap was perhaps the best among Indian men’s player on show as he got past two tough opponents. He beat Wing Ki Wong 21-14, 21-15 in the morning session before getting past Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiato 21-14, 21-16 in the second round. He will next play seventh seed Yun Hu of Hong Kong.

“These are good wins for me. I was shaky in my first match. But I recovered in time and started playing aggressively,” Kashyap, India’s highest ranked player in men’s singles at 30, said.

Among other men’s players, Anup Sridhar, Arvind Bhat and Anand Pawar lost in the second round while Ajay Jayram, Gurusaidatt and K. Nandgopal fell in the opening round.

Sridhar lost to Chong Chieh Lok of Malaysia 19-21, 15-21 while Pawar was beaten 11-21, 14-21 by Chinese Lin Dan. Bhat was shown the door by Korea’s Ji Hoon Hoong, who defeated him 21-18, 13-21, 21-6.

Gurusaidatt lost a gruelling encounter against Korean Ho Jin Choi 19-21, 22-20, 21-19. Jairam also gave a tough fight before going down to Hong Kong’ Yan Kit Chan 21-14, 13-21, 17-21. Nandgopal went down to Indonesian Nugroho Andi Saputro 15-21, 15-21.

Top seed Taufik Hidayat, like his arch-rival Dan, made it to the third round without breaking much sweat.

Taufiq defeated Ha Anh le of Vietnam 21-10, 21-16 after going past qualifier Indra Mehata of Nepal in the first round.

Also advancing to the third round were sixth seed and All England finalist Kenichi Tago of Japan and Yan Kit Chan of Hong Kong.